The Great Christmas Surprise
by Jemascola
Summary: Paddington Bear wants to capture Santa Claus, so he stays up all night and causes much chaos.
1. Chapter 1

**The Great Christmas Surprise**

_**By Joe**_

**Summary:** Paddington Bear wants to capture Santa Claus, so he stays up all night and causes much chaos.

**Author Notes:** I do not own _Paddington Bear_, its characters, or any other copyrighted material.

**Chapter 1**

The Christmas season had begun once again. All over London, people began to decorate the buildings and get in the Christmas spirit. Things were no different at 32 Windsor Gardens, where the Brown family was preparing as well.

Mrs. Bird was preparing eggnog, Mrs. Brown went out Christmas shopping, and Paddington Bear was probably the most excited of them all. He had never celebrated Christmas very often in Darkest Peru, so all this was very interesting to him. Paddington decided to go visit his friend, Mr. Gruber.

When Paddington arrived, Mr. Gruber greeted him warmly and offered him a cup of cocoa. The two of them sat down on the couch and began to talk. "So, what's on your mind, Mr. Brown?" asked Mr. Gruber.

"Well," Paddington said, "I'm just curious. What is all this excitement over this Christmas holiday?"

"Christmas, Mr. Brown, is a holiday that is widely celebrated all over the world. It is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Also, during Christmas, many people put up trees in their houses and purchase all sorts of presents to give to others during the holiday. And little children receive gifts especially from a deity known as Santa Claus," explained Mr. Gruber.

"Santa Claus?" Paddington asked. "Who is this Santa Claus?"

Mr. Gruber smiled. "On Christmas Eve, Santa and his 9 reindeer fly all around the world and visit every house and give presents to all the children. Santa flies in a big sleigh, and his reindeer and he flies very high and very fast in the air. Most people leave Santa cookies and milk when he comes down peoples' chimneys. When he arrives, he puts gifts under the tree, and he puts little gifts inside stockings pinned to the mantle of the fireplace. Then, he goes straight up the chimney to deliver gifts to more houses. And he does the same thing every Christmas."

Paddington licked his chops. "This Santa sounds like a very interesting fellow. I cannot wait for Christmas Eve!" Paddington finished his cocoa and got off the sofa. "Goodbye, Mr. Gruber. I will see you later."

"Bye, Paddington," waved Mr. Gruber.

As Paddington walked back home to 32 Windsor Gardens, he thought to himself about Santa. "Santa gives people gifts on Christmas. Well, if I caught Santa, then perhaps he could give me some more marmalade sandwiches whenever I please." Paddington licked his lips and darted all the way home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

A few days prior to Christmas, Mr. and Mrs. Brown walked over to Mr. Curry's house. For days, they had heard Paddington's constant chatter about Santa Claus. He would not stop and talked for hours on end about the fat jolly man. Therefore, Mr. and Mrs. Brown thought that it would be nice if Paddington actually had an encounter with Santa. Mr. Brown was not fit enough to try it, so they figured that Mr. Curry would be suitable for the job. Also, if Mr. Curry did the favor for the Browns, it would also help spark a friendship between Paddington and him.

But when Mr. Curry heard of the Browns' proposal, he flatly rejected it. "No!" he snapped. "There is no way I am going out of my way to do that bear any favors!"

"Come on, Mr. Curry," said Mr. Brown. "Paddington is a very young bear. He needs some joy and Christmas cheer in his life."

"Then why don't you just do it yourself?" grunted Mr. Curry.

"I'm too large to fit through the chimney. You know that. Plus, my arthritis hinders me from doing a lot of difficult muscle movement," Mr. Brown said.

Mr. Curry looked to Mrs. Brown. "Then why don't _you_ do it?"

"Mr. Curry, why would _I_ do it? That's the daftest thing I've ever heard of!" Mrs. Brown said.

Mr. Curry snorted. "Oh, all right, I guess I'll do a favor for that bear. But don't expect me to be happy about it!"

"The very least you could do is say a 'ho ho ho'," said Mr. Brown.

"Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas," snorted Mr. Curry. "Bah humbug!"

"You're playing Santa, not Ebenezer Scrooge!" reminded Mrs. Brown.

The Browns left Mr. Curry's house, listening to him moaning to himself. When they returned home, they saw that Paddington was looking up the chimney.

"Paddington, Santa comes on Christmas Eve," reminded Mrs. Brown.

"And that isn't for a few days yet," said Mr. Brown.

"By the way, Paddington, how would you get a chance to meet the real life Santa?" asked Mrs. Brown.

"That would be terrific!" said Paddington. He bounced up and down and did cartwheels all around the room. He laughed and giggled in joy. The Browns smiled at each other, knowing they'd made Paddington very happy indeed.

Days later, Christmas Eve arrived. Paddington was still thinking of ways to trap Santa. "Hmm…maybe I could lure him with one of my marmalade sandwiches. No, too risky. Or maybe instead, I'll burn a roaring fire so he won't come down the chimney, and I'll catch him on the roof. No, that's also too risky." Paddington licked his lips with excitement. "Wait a minute! I've got just the plan!" When the Browns went to sleep, Paddington set up his trap and lounged on the sofa, waiting for Santa's arrival.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

At midnight, Mr. Curry climbed up the Browns' building and went onto the roof. He looked rather ridiculous dressed as Santa, but he knew that he was doing the Browns and Paddington a favor. He grunted to himself, "If this thing fails, I'll never do another favor for that bear again." Mr. Curry carefully placed himself inside the chimney and began to crawl down, when suddenly, he felt himself losing traction to the walls. Instantly, he collapsed and fell to the hearth of the fireplace. "Ouch!" he shouted. He looked up the chimney and then at his hands. Both were covered in marmalade!

Paddington had dozed off, but woke up to "Santa's" shout in pain. He saw "Santa" in the fireplace and instantly sprang to action. He pinned the fire screen in front of the fireplace so that Santa couldn't get out. Santa began to bang on the screen. "**Bear!**" he shouted. "Let me out of here! What do you think you're doing!"

"Greetings, Santa," Paddington greeted. "Where's your 'ho ho ho'?"

"I'll give you a real 'ho ho ho' as soon as I get out of this trap!" snapped Santa.

"I'm sorry, Santa, but I want to keep you for myself. Without you, I will never have marmalade sandwiches on demand," said Paddington. Santa growled. He then looked up the chimney and tried to climb up, but he only ended up slipping and falling back down. He then sighed and gave in.

"Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas," he grunted with no enthusiasm.

"Much better, Santa," said Paddington. "Now, do you have any presents for me?"

"No, I don't. Now let me out of here this instant!"

"But Mr. Gruber told me that Santa Claus gives presents to children all around the world," said Paddington.

Just then, "Santa" came up with a loophole that perhaps would set him free. "Well…uh…isn't that greedy of you to keep me to yourself? How can anyone else receive presents if I'm not there? How would you like it if someone prevented me from giving you a gift?"

Paddington licked his lips in thought. He considered the matter over a marmalade sandwich, which he conveniently kept in his hat. He munched on the sandwich. Then, he said, "You're right, Santa. It would be rather greedy of me. I'll set you free now." Paddington lifted the screen, and "Santa" darted out.

"Come here, bear!" Santa shouted as he chased Paddington around the living room.

"Help! Help!" cried Paddington.

Mr. and Mrs. Brown heard the ruckus from upstairs and went down to investigate. They saw Santa chasing a rather frightened Paddington.

"Santa! What are you doing to that poor bear?" gasped Mrs. Brown.

"Poor bear!" snapped "Santa." "That 'poor bear' caked the inside of the chimney with marmalade and then trapped me inside the fireplace so that I couldn't get out!"

The Browns turned to Paddington. "Is that true, Paddington?" asked Mr. Brown.

"Yes, it is true, but I regret my decision now," said Paddington.

"Now, Santa, does that sound like a reformed bear to you?" Mrs. Brown asked.

"Santa" only responded by grunting and walking out of the living room.

That Christmas morning, Paddington was overjoyed when he found a dozen jars of marmalade especially for him under the Christmas tree. He abruptly took half of them and walked out the door.

"Paddington, where are you going?" Mrs. Bird asked.

"I'm going to Mr. Curry's house. It's been a while since anyone's seen him. I think it would be a nice gesture to give him a present," said Paddington.

"That's very kind of you, dear," Mrs. Brown said.

"Yes. I think Mr. Curry would like that very much," Mr. Brown said, winking at Mrs. Brown.

Paddington hurried out the door to give his present to Mr. Curry. However, Mr. Curry was nowhere to be seen. Unbeknownst to Paddington and the Browns, Mr. Curry had been arrested earlier in the night for supposedly breaking into the Browns' residence. As Mr. Curry sat angrily in prison, he growled silently, "…bear…"

**The End**


End file.
